My husband and I had been looking for a house for some time, and when we finally found the right one, the process of buying it and moving in was a rather magical process for us. There were other significant life events mingled in with the house and moving events,...

“Sonya, this father-daughter thing… I don’t think it’s working anymore.” My dad was breaking up with me. Our conversations had been increasingly testy, fragile, and edgy. Well, they’d been that way between Dad and everybody. As usual, he’d found ways to cut people out...

After the Christmas blow-out fight when I was 25 years old – when my mom finally realized my dad was crazy and decided to get a divorce – my dad and I didn’t talk for several years. I felt no desire to be on the receiving end of the John-Bibilos-battering-ram. I heard...

“Oh my God, he’s crazy.” 25 years of increasingly crazy – she just figured it out? I just offered two succinct nods. “Mmm hmm.” I was sitting next to my mom and brother on her fluffy peach sectional. We were dazed, the kind of shock, sadness, and exhaustion that can...

After reconciling the dragon of worthiness and realizing we are all inherently worthy, one day, I was sitting again in meditation on my purple cushion on my crappy-ass beige carpet in front of my altar, and I realized with shock that I had no idea what it meant to be...

We walk into my cousins’ house, and there are cheers of welcome. The house is packed with family members. Theia Effie and Theo John embrace us; some of the cousins in my generation embrace us too (but others are too busy playing somewhere else). It’s a big...

My fifth-grade teacher, a creative and loving giant of a human, gave my parents a book about how to improve my self-esteem. My parents said they were doing all the things that were in the book. They couldn’t understand why my self-esteem was so low. Well, ask just...

As a coach and healer, I’ve witnessed hundreds of people spiritually awaken. Some people awaken very gradually, like slowly descending into a smooth pond. Others have dramatic wam-bang awakening events, while others have a series of awakenings. Some people push away...

My need for silence was intense. As a kid, I could be loud and boisterous. I started acting and performing when I was 14. So this seemingly sudden call, demand, and irresistible pull to silence in my late twenties seemed a little out of character. But, like many...

I guess I had assumed that I would be Sri Mahayogi’s disciple forever. I certainly knew that my commitment to awakening was enduring. But life had other plans. Shortly after I moved to California, I took a job at a software company that offered yoga classes. The yoga...